Barely Breathing
by PnAyLynn
Summary: My own version of "Spin the Bottle" combined with the Buffy episode "Tabula Rosa"
1. Default Chapter

"Barely Breathing"

By Lynn 

SPOILERS: S5 and 7/S4

DISTRIBUTION: For God's sake just take it! I don't really give. I just wanna know where it's going.

DISCLAIMERS: Nope...not mine. Not mine at all. And I got the script at www.buffy-vs-angel.com SUMMARY: This is a challenge fic sent out by Jenny. It's a retake on "Spin the Bottle" where "Tabula Rasa" happened at the same time. 

E-MAIL: shawtyPnAyangel220@hotmail.com 

A/N(PLEASE READ 'CAUSE YOU MIGHT GET CONFUSED!): Okay so first off, if this fic sucks, I'm sorry. This is my first challenge fic and the first where I actually had to use the scripts from the show. So, in my fic, Buffy and Spike never did it. So, everything happened but that. But they did kiss in this season. And Spike is all chippy head and no soul and living in a crypt. He never left. 

  
  


Prologue 

Lorne sat on a stool on stage in a nightclub, doing what he loves the most...performing. He started to sing "Memories" and then stopped to talk to his audience. 

"Ah youth. Is there anything more magical? A time of first loves, great discoveries...let's face it: youth is it. It's a national obsession, crazy cats. But somewhere, people all forget what a mess youth is. It's a time of magic, all right, and there's nothing more unreliable of annoying than magic. Lemme tell ya a little story. It starts like this..." 

Buffy walked through one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries on her late night patrol. She fiddled with the stake in her small hands.

Her mind wandered and drifted off into her "special" place. She was pressed up against the wall, and unsurprisingly, it was Angel who had her in that position. One of his large hands rested next to her head on the wall, and the other on her hip. Their mouths were delving into each other's. 

Then the scene just froze and Lorne's voice announced, "No actually, it really starts here..." 


	2. The Spell

  


Part 1 

Angel and Cordelia sat out in the Hyperion Hotel garden on the edge of the little pond. 

"Were we in love?" Cordelia asked. 

'Oh wow. Didn't expect that one,' Angel thought. 

"Hmm." Was his response. 

Cordelia was still looking for the answer. "Were we?" 

Lost in thought, Angel forgot that Cordelia asked the question. 

"What?" Angel said.

"In love?" 

'Well, I was in love with Buffy. Am...or was. Oh! I don't think she meant with other people,' Angel was rambling inside his head. Funny, he never used to do that before. 

"With each other?" he asked back. 

"Mister, if you start giving me the run around-" 

"I'm not," he stood up, confused, "I'm not."

"Then tell me the truth!" she demanded. Damn was she frustrated. Angel tried to sort out his feelings. He wasn't ready for this yet. It would've been better if she had her memory back. Man, how could've he known then when he was going to meet her in Malibu and not know now?

"I don't know," he honestly answered. 

"You don't know?" "Well, I'm not sure. All I know is that you're my dearest friend. And I hope that...I just...I want that back, and we will get you back. No matter what," Angel sat back down next to her, "I promise you, we'll get you back." 

Suddenly, Lorne walked into the garden.

"What's all this 'we', pale face?" Lorne said, "I'm the one doing all the leg-work...well actually it's more like lap-work, 'cause look what fell into it." He held up an opaque ceramic bottle with a cork at the top. 

"What?" Cordelia was now confused, too. ..Besides the whole memory loss thing… Whatever. 

"A memory spell," Lorne provided, "No pain, no side-effects. I'm telling you, swingers, there's no way this can fail." 

It's back in the nightclub and Lorne spoke into the mic. "So, I'm an idiot. What are you? Perfect?" 

Lorne then began to talk about how he stumbled onto the spell to the audience and the scene changed back to the garden and Lorne is now finishing up the story of his discovery to Cordelia and Angel. 

"I don't know. Spells...I don't trust them," Angel started to protest. 

"And I don't care," Cordelia argued and stood up, "I'm in." 

Angel stood up also. "Cordy, I just-" 

"I don't care. This is killing me. I want my memory back. Pain, side effects, this thing turns me into a mousaka...I'm happy. As long as I can remember I'm a mousaka."

"Don't even worry about it, Princess. I've got all the ingredients lined up. As soon as we call Wesley and the Sunnydale crew, we'll have our nine."

Angel looked after Lorne and Cordelia as they went back into the hotel. "Wesley? Sunnydale? The nine what?" he called after them. 


	3. Calling all Scoobies

  
  


Part 2 

Buffy walked into her home that she shared with her best friend, Willow, and her sister, Dawn. She deeply exhaled and quietly shut the door. 

Rubbing her temple tiredly, she trudged up the stairs to her room that used to be her mother's. She closed her bedroom door behind her and sat on the edge of the bed. She rubbed her face and leaned her elbows on her knees. 

Buffy stared forward and her hands covered her mouth. She kissed Spike. Lord almighty, she kissed Spike. Full blown make-out session with Spike, and it was under her own will; no spell was involved this time.

They were patrolling together and were attacked by a loan shark demon (literally a shark) and his minions that Spike owed money to. While the shark demon made a little chit chat with the slayer, Spike ran and hid inconspicuously. When the demons left with a warning, Spike emerged from his hiding place in a crypt. 

Buffy made a comment on his little situation and as always, they ended up smacking each other around. 

In the heat of the moment, Buffy shoved the blonde vampire against a large tombstone and kissed him hard. She didn't know why she did it. She felt nothing for him that was romantic. 

After a couple of minutes, Buffy came back to her senses and backed away from Spike. She punched him one more time and dashed home. 

The phone rang, shaking Buffy out of her brooding. 'Yes,' Buffy thought with a hint of a smile, 'there's a little Angel in all of us.' The thought of her first love made her stomach flutter. 

She picked up the phone and answered with a "Hello?"

"Hey Toots, is this Buffy?" an unfamiliar cheery, male voice came on the line. 

"Yes, who's this?"

"I'm Lorne. I'm a good chum of your old love muffin Angel." 

Buffy's stomach fluttered again when she heard the beautiful voice of Angel saying Lorne's name sternly. 

"Oh, Lorne. Angel told me about you one time." 

She remembered Angel speaking of a demon that read souls if you sang named Lorne that was part of his team now. He told her about him and a lot more when they met at that place last year. "Really? Oh I'm touched."

"Is there something you needed?" Buffy prodded on.

"Right. Well, we need you and your buddies, Willow and Xander I believe, to come here for a spell." 

"I don't know. Willow just went through this whole thing with magic and-"

"Geez Cupcakes, you sound just like Guilty McPointy Fangs over there. Don't worry. It's okay. No side effects whatsoever. Nada. Zilch. Niente. Kaput-" 

"OKAY! I get it. What's the spell for?" 

"Well Cordelia was brought up into a higher dimension about a few months ago, and when she was brought back, she had no memory at all. So what we're trying to do here is a memory spell obviously, and we need the eight closest to Cordelia to do it. And you guys are the only remaining three. So Sweetums, will ya do it?" 

Buffy thought for a moment before answering. It was for Cordelia. The one that really didn't like her in school. But what she heard from Angel was that she has totally done a 360. And Cordelia? A higher being? Must've been a dream come true for her. Anyways, maybe they should do it. It's for the greater good anyway. She was our friend then too. And she so needed to get away from Spike at the moment. 

She sighed, "Okay, we'll be there in three hours." 

"Alright. Thanks Hun." They hung up and Buffy went over to Willow's room to explain their situation. They told Dawn and called up Xander. He came over ten minutes later, and they all went on their way to LA. 


	4. Let the chaos begin

  


Part 3 

After they dropped off Dawn at Anya's, they were on the road to the city of Angels. 

"Is this it?" Xander asked, pointing to a hotel. Willow looked out her window from the backseat. "Yup," she confirmed and nodded. Xander made the turn and whistled. 

"Wow. Dead Boy's got it made." He stopped the car in front of the building and turned to Buffy in the passenger seat. "You ready Buff?" 

For the second time that night, she let out an elongated breath. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants and nodded. 

"Yeah let's go." 

Xander, Buffy, and Willow stepped out of Xander's car and through the doors. 

When they walked in, they saw a green demon with red horns and eyes, dark blond hair, and in a colorful suit going around a painted symbol on the floor, and putting down magical ingredients. 

A black man and skinny brown haired girl stood in the office area, watching the demon. 

The demon, most likely Lorne, said something in a weird dialect and the girl said something back in the same language. 

"Did we miss the spell? Did English suddenly go away?" Buffy made her appearance known. 

All three people in the lobby looked at them. 

"No. It's Pylean, Cupcakes. I said, 'I may be prepared to shout a joyful chant.'" Lorne explained. "And I said 'May your words please the gods," the brown-haired girl added. 

*~*~ 

LORNE AT THE NIGHTCLUB: "Ok first of all, she didn't say 'May your words please the gods,' so much as 'May you orally please the gods.' 

*~*~ 

"You must be Buffy, Xander, and Willow. I'm Lorne, that precious Texas sweetie is Fred, and the muscle over there is Gunn." They all acknowledged each other and then the doors swung open again. 

"Wesley," Buffy greeted, "You're looking...rugged." 

"Hello Buffy, Willow, Xander. You're doing well I assume?" Wesley greeted back in his rough British voice. 

"We're handling," Buffy replied.

"Hey Wes. You look different," Xander said, "Hey, what is that? Is that a scar on your neck?" he pointed to the healed cut he received from Justine. 

Wesley cleared his throat, "In a nutshell, I ended up getting my throat slit."

"Oh. Ouch. Sorry man." 

"Yes, well, if you'll excuse me." He moved in front of Fred. After having a few words with her, Wesley moved to the office, followed by a glaring Gunn. 

"Yikes," Willow spoke up for the first time, "Not really feeling much of the friendly vibe." 

"Yeah, well, let's just say we've had it rough," Lorne cryptically answered. 

"Don't feel all too special," Buffy retorted. 

"Buffy," came a soft, deep voice. She turned to the stairs to their left, along with the others. She gave a small smile to the ever-so-handsome guy. 

"Angel," she greeted her undead hottie ex. 

"I'm glad you came." 

"Thanks. It's been a while."

"It has." they stared at each other and there was silence. 

Xander broke it after a moment, "Hey Angel, how's the unlife?" 

"Oh Xander. How I missed you," Angel said sarcastically and rolling his eyes.

"So where's Cordy?" 

"Right here," another voice came from behind Angel. 

"You're Xander," she pointed to the carpenter and then to the redhead, "Willow. And you must be Buffy." She pointed towards the slayer. 

"Great!" Lorne exclaimed, "Now that everybody's here we can let the game's begin." 

Buffy turned to Willow and put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Will you be okay?" Buffy asked concerned. 

"Um. Yeah," Willow nervously answered, "I-I made sure. I called Giles before we left. He told me it was okay." 

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah it'll be fine."

*~*~ 

LORNE AT THE NIGHTCLUB: "See what I didn't know was that this cutie patootie red-head went all magic crazed and veiny. And she's just recovering. See where I'm going with the annoying and unreliable magic thing here?" 

*~*~ 


	5. The chaos ensues

Part 4 

They were now sitting in the symbol Lorne had painted on the floor. Clockwise from Lorne were Angel, Cordy, Xander, Gunn, Fred, Wesley, then Buffy. 

"Ok, eyes on the bottle," Lorne instructed, then he said the spell, "We come in supplication and hope. Bring her back." 

The bottle in the center started to move around on its own. All of the sudden, an amber light streamed out of the bottle and headed for each person. The light stopped and the bottle fell and started to spin. 

"What's going on?" Willow questioned, walking away from the circle. 

Lorne crawled away saying, "I feel a little..." He went behind the counter and collapsed. They went off in different directions, breaking the circle. They all look confused, and funnily, a little high. "What's happening to us?" Xander inquired, he stumbled to the couch and lied down. Angel traveled outside to the garden and looked up at the stars in wonderment. Buffy crawled up the stairs the best she could in her state of nausea, and when she reached the top, she slumped onto the wall. She brought her knees to her chest, and laid her forehead on them, rocking back and forth.

Fred walked over to the plant in the corner and examined it as if it's the most amazing thing in the world. 

"This is important," she said, "It's so beautiful..." She then threw up into her wonderful discovery. Gunn started to practice his martial arts, while Wesley still sat in his same spot, giggling. 

"We'll just wait to see if there are any side effects," he giggled again. 

Willow was over by the window, pressing her face against the plexi-glass, and Xander was still lying on his back on the couch, watching his hand move. 

Cordelia stood up unsteadily, "What's happening? We can't just... we have to... No!" 

She accidentally stomped on the bottle, breaking it and shaking everyone from their trance. They all looked at each other confused, not knowing who each other were anymore. 

"Okay!" Cordelia exclaimed, "What the hell is going on here?" she was starting to sound like her normal-teenaged self. 

"What's your name?" Wesley questioned Cordelia. 

"I'm..." she trailed off and wrinkled her nose, "I don't know. Is this some sort of sophomore hazing prank where I get all doped up and get left with a bunch of proto-losers?" 

"Well," Wesley started to theorize, "Maybe we all got...terribly drunk and this some sort of blackout." 

"I-I don't see any booze," Willow remarked, she felt her head, smoothing out her hair "I don't feel any bumps."

"Okay. "I'm not panicking. I'm not panicking. I'm not," Xander chanted. Everybody in the lobby all looked at him, "Stop looking at me like I'm panicking!"

"Hey guy. Calm down," Willow said to Xander in an effort to make him chill out, "Does ANYBODY know who they are or who anybody else is...or WHY we're here?" she added. 

There was silence. 

"Okay well um...Oh! I know! ID's!" she then suggested.

Their faces brightened and they dug into their pockets. 

"It's me! I'm 'Alexander Harris.' Hey, I exist," Xander said excitedly, showing off his license. "Willow Rosenberg," Willow looked at her school ID, "Heh, Willow. Funny name."

"Saids here that I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," Wesley puffed up his chest in pride. 

"Loser," Cordelia scoffed, "I don't have an ID," she reached her hand to her neck and played with the chain that dangled from her neck. She saw a book on the counter and went up to it curiously, not noticing Lorne yet; she opened up the book that read "Sunnydale '99". Before Lorne discovered the 'no-side-effect' spell, she brought it downstairs to Angel and asked him about the people in it. Of course he only really knew about Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies. She had left down there, forgetting about amongst other things. 

She flipped through it as the people around her figured out who they were. 

"Charles Gunn," Gunn stated reading the license he had in his hand, he then commented, "I'm not feeling the Charles though."

"Hey! I'm Winifred Burkle!" Fred exclaimed with the same amount of excitement Xander had for his name. She renewed her license after she regained her sanity. 

"Damn!" Cordelia exclaimed, "I am GORGEOUS! And I have a powerful name, too. Cordelia Chase. Ugh...why did they put me next to this freak. It TOTALLY messes up my appearance." "What the hell are you talking about?" Gunn was getting a little tired of this bitch. 

"What I'm talking about Hair club for men is...Hello salty goodness," Cordelia stared ahead at Angel who just walked in, she was practically drooling when she saw him. At the same time, Buffy finally waltzed down the stairs. 

"Hello," Wesley greeted Angel, "Who are you friend?" 

"I am not your friend," Angel said, alert with his new surroundings, "I don't even know who you are." 

"Hey guys," Buffy greeted, putting her hands in her back pockets, and bounced on her heels, "What's the what?" 'These people didn't look very hatchety-murdery,' Buffy thought, 'They looked nice. Maybe they can help me with my name and stuff.' 

"Yo Blondie," Gunn looked her up and down and checked her out, "What's your name?"

"Well, I thought you guys could tell me 'cause, heh, I don't really know." 

"Do you have an ID of some sort?" Wesley questioned. 

Buffy searched her pockets and pouted. "Um...no." 

"What about you?" Wesley nodded at Angel, careful to not anger him again. Angel shook his head and looked at Buffy. They gazed into each other's eyes and immediately felt connected. Whatever negative feelings they felt, melted away when they looked at each other. 

"Well all of us seem to have names but you two," Wesley said, making the two break eye contact and put their attention toward the others, "I'm Wesley Wyndam Pryce. That's um...Willow Rosenberg, Alexander Harris, Winifred Burkle, Cordelia Chase, and Charles um..." 

"Gunn," Gunn filled in. 

"Where?" Wesley panicked. 

"Me. that's my name. Charles Gunn." 

"Oh. Right." 

"I don't like this," Angel mumbled. 

Buffy faced him and took his hand, both feeling tingly at the touch. 

"It's okay, don't worry. We'll take care of each other," Buffy assured Angel. 

Angel smiled a little and brushed some of her blonde bangs out of her eyes. 

"So you don't have a name?" Willow asked. 

"I have a name. I just don't happen to know it." 

"Do you want me to name you?" Fred cheerfully volunteered.

"Oh that's sweet, but I think I can name myself," she thought for a moment, "I'll name me...Joan." Cordelia made a face, "Ugh." 

Buffy turned towards Cordelia, "Did you just 'ugh' my name?" 

"Joan? Come on!" Cordelia judged, "I mean it's so blah."

"I like it. I feel like a Joan."

"I think it's a beautiful name," Angel reassured Buffy. 

"Thank you," Buffy tilted her head and added, "You still don't have a name," she studied Angel's face and then nodded her head, "You look like a… Liam." 

Cordelia scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Whatever Joan." 

"Whatever CORDELIA," Buffy mocked her. 

"This is great and all, but does anybody have any idea why and how we're here?" Xander interrupted before anything went down. Not knowing what else to do, they all turned to Wesley for guidance. Wesley again, puffed up his chest and waltzed in pompous steps. 

"I guess I shall be your leader. And as your leader I shall-" 

Just then, a demon with black spikes on its blue, bumpy face, and wearing rags, burst in the hotel doors on the other side of the lobby. The group all turned to it and simultaneously let out a terrified scream. 


	6. Discoveries

Part 5 

The group screamed in terror as the blue demon ran for them; they ran toward the stairs. 

  


Buffy and Angel brought up the rear, and Angel tripped and fell on his way up. 

  


The demon charged for him and when he got near, Angel kicked out his leg and hit the demon in the stomach; he stood up on his feet and made an attempt to run up the stairs where the others were. The demon reeled back a couple of feet after Angel kicked him, but recovered quickly, letting out a roar and running for Angel. It turned him around and shoved its huge, blue fist in his face. Buffy yelled and ran to the fight. 

  


"Hey!" she screamed to the demon. She high kicked it in the face, "Stay. Away. From. Liam." She punctuated each word with a hit. Angel instinctively joined in when Buffy got smacked in the face. Eventually, Buffy reached up and snapped its neck as Angel restrained it from behind. 

  


Angel let go of it and let it tumble to the floor. 

  


"Whoa!" Gunn exclaimed from the group's perch on the steps. 

  


They slowly came down them toward Buffy and Angel and the dead demon.

  


"Yo dawg," Fred said, "Did you see that? That shit was tight yo!" 

  


They all turned to her like she grew a second head. 

  


"Don't say that," Gunn shook his head. 

  


"Fo sho." Fred responded, still talking in slang. 

  


Gunn gave her a look that said, "What did I just say?" Fred put her hands behind her back and looked down sheepishly.

  


"What did you guys do?" Willow questioned, staring at the blue body that was twice the size of the girl who killed it. 

  


"I don't know..." Buffy also stared at the body in amazement, she looked up at the group and smiled, "But it was cool!"

  


Everybody smiled back at her except for Cordelia who just raised her eyebrow. 

  


"Me and Liam, we're like super-heroes or something!" 

  


"Maybe we're getting paid for this. Some kind of psyche test that the government is throwing at us," Xander suggested, nudging the demon with his foot. Everybody gasped when it melted into blue goo and evaporated. 

  


"My hair!" Cordelia felt for the first time how short her hair was, not caring about other matters. It felt very different from what the picture looked liked in the yearbook, "The government gave me bad hair!" She started to cry.

  


"No," Xander disagreed with her, smoothing her hair out with his fingertips reassuringly, "It's nice." 

  


She sniffed, "Are you sure?" 

  


He smiled, "Positive." 

  


Xander didn't know why, but he was attracted to her. He felt that normally, a girl that was the way she acting, wasn't his type. Other than the fact that she was pretty, there was something else. 

  


Wesley walked around the lobby, observing his surroundings and the people in it. He moved his eyes to the floor and gasped, noticing for the first time the symbol and magical supplies scattered about. Throughout the whole chaos they hadn't noticed the unusual setting. 

  


"Of course! Our first clue! Magic!" he turned to the confused people around him.

  


"Aw come on," Xander dismissed, "Magic is just a bunch of hoo-ha controlled by invisible wires." 

  


"Then explain this," Wesley waved to the symbol. 

  


Everybody gaped at the symbol and Xander replied, sounding unsure, "Maybe it's artwork of some kind. Weird, but hey art is weird." 

  


Cordelia moved over by the counter and sat on top if it. She looked over her shoulder and then jumped off with a yelp. 

  


"Ok! What the hell is that?!" she screeched, pointing at the unconscious Lorne. 

  


Everyone scrambled over to where Cordelia was pointing and gasped. 

  


"Another one?!" Gunn yelled, overwhelmed. Xander nudged Lorne with his foot to see if he would melt and evaporate like the other one did. When nothing happened, they all frowned and looked at each other for answers. 

*~*~ 

LORNE AT THE NIGHT CLUB: "I gotta say," Lorne chuckled and then sipped his bitter liquid that was like water to him before he continued, "This group is a bunch of monkeys in a barrel; such a hoot. Yeah, you wouldn't believe how much fun I had in their next activity!" 

*~*~ 

Wesley wrapped duct tape around a still knocked out cold Lorne to the settee while Cordelia, Gunn, and Xander watched. 

  
  


"I say we cut its head off," Gunn bluntly suggested. 

  


"He may have information we need. When he wakes up-"

  


"When he wakes up, we don't even know if this tape is gonna hold him," Gunn cut Wesley off, "I say we cut his damn head off!" 

  


"Thank you very much Marie Antoinette," the British man said sarcastically. 

  


"What'd you call me?" Gunn was insulted because he had no idea who Marie Antoinette was.

  


"Hey. Hey, you two want to stop the Homo-erotic buddy cop session long enough to explain this," Cordelia interrupted "Big blue demon, another one with bad skin and horns and a HORRIBLE fashion sense. Also Joan and Liam with their superhuman fighting skills; things just keep getting weirder." 

  


Wesley moved to point a finger in the air when he got an idea. Swords suddenly popped out of his sleeves and he screamed out in surprise; Willow and Fred joining him. 

  


"They really are," Willow agreed, her and Fred expecting the weapons cabinet. Willow stared at Fred strangely as she shot her arms out like Spiderman, and then did some karate moves, "Do you have any weed?" Willow asked Fred cautiously, thinking she probably smoked something since she was acting so weird. 

  


Fred ceased her movements, inspecting her sleeves and pouted, "I didn't get one."

  


"No one got one except for Mr. Tea and Crumpets over here," Buffy raised an eyebrow at the rugged looking Englishman. 

  


Wesley started wailing about when he lost control over the swords on his arms. He finally gained control and popped them back into his sleeves and cleared his throat in embarrassment. 

  


"As I was going to say, I have a theory." Wesley smiled tightly, folding his hands behind his back and rocking on his heels.

  


"And that would be..." Xander prodded on, waving his hand to signal to get to the point. 

  


"This must be a test," they stare at Wesley blankly, except for Xander who pointed out that he already said that. Wesley ignored him and continued, "Someone must've stuck us in here with demons with no memory to test our abilities and strength. So they locked us in here with a deadly, let's say vampire or some other, and you have to kill him before he kills you." 

  


They look around at each other, not sure on what to do. 

  


"So you think, if we kill this vampire, they take off the spell whammy and we can go back to being ourselves?" Willow questioned. 

  


"And never see each other again?" Cordelia asked hopefully. These people were cramping her style. Well, all except for Liam; maybe Alexander, he DID compliment her hair.

  


"I believe we can all just go about our business," Wesley confirmed.

  


"And never see each other again?" she repeated. 

  


"We split up. Look around and see if the demon in question is around," Wesley suggested, "Willow, you're with Charles, Winifred, you're with me, Alex and Cordelia, you're together, and since Joan and Liam work so well together, you two are together." The two smiled at each other and intertwined their hands. 

  


"Grab a weapon, and Alexander and Cordelia, Joan and Liam check upstairs, the rest, we're down here," he instructed. 

  


Gunn grabbed an axe and handed Fred a small dagger. Wesley picked up a crossbow and handed a smaller one to Willow. Cordelia took a stake and Xander chose Angel's hurling axe. Buffy found another stake, gripping it, thinking it was a weapon that fit her well. Angel slid out a sword from the cabinet.

  


Once they were all situated, they nodded at each other and went their ways for a little vamp hunting. 

*~*~ 


	7. Right under their noses

Part 6 

The door that was to Angel's room opened slowly. 

  


Buffy and Angel stood in the door way cautiously; Buffy held the stake with her right hand, ready to strike, while she pushed the door open with her left. Angel was next to her, the sword gripped in his hands like a baseball bat. 

  


"Here vampire," Buffy called out into the dark room opened slowly. 

  


Angel stepped in first, signaling Buffy to stay behind him. They walked slowly into the room, there eyes grazing Angel's suite.

  


"I-I think it's safe," Angel softly said to Buffy over his shoulder, his sword still raised. 

  


"Yeah," Buffy agreed as they stopped in their tracks, lowering their weapons, "All clear." 

  


She walked over to the wall with the light switch and flipped it on, lighting the room dimly. She moved over to where Angel was sitting on the edge of the bed and plopped down next to him with a sigh. 

  


"You know when this is all over, I'm gonna need a drink of the alcoholic persuasion," commented Angel. 

  


"Huh," Buffy gave a little chuckle and a grin spread on her face, "Vampires. who knew?" 

  


Buffy and Angel held each others gaze as her hazel, sometimes blue, eyes met connected with his mahogany ones. Angel was the one that broke the connection. 

  


"Um. Sorry for acting so. womanish," he apologized for his behavior when this all began. He sheepishly looked at the ground, fiddling with the sword between his legs, tapping the sharp point on the dark colored carpet. 

  


The corners of Buffy's mouth were tugged up slightly. She thought it was so cute, the way he was acting. 

  


She reached her hand out and started rubbing his large, slouched back soothingly. 

  


"No. I didn't think that you acted that way. You're not womanish," then her hand moved to his biceps and started to feel and squeeze it, "Not womanish at all."

  


She kept her hand on his arm and turned her head away from him, mouthing "Oh my God," in amazement. She quickly turned her head back and shot a bright smile when she felt his body shift. 

  


He gave her a thankful half-smile, "You're very sweet." 

  


They sat there smiling at each other, Buffy's hand still on his biceps.

  


After a few moments, Buffy finally removed her hand. Her blood was pumping fast through her veins. Angel's ears perked up when he heard a faint beating sound, and oddly enough his mouth watered. 

  


"Geez," Buffy breathed, "What is it about danger that makes your blood just." 

  


In Angel's head her voice faded away. Angel tried really hard to listen, he did, but her neck looked so. appealing. Her jugular vein seemed to be taunting him, screaming for him to bite into her and taste her blood. He felt his face shift and his teeth elongated. 

  


Before Buffy could ever see him in demon form, he changed back into his regular, human face when she looked at him. Concern and confusion crossed her face when she saw his wide eyes and the panicked look on his.

  


"What's wrong?" she asked, reaching out to place on his cheek. 

  


As her hand almost made contact with his skin, Angel jumped up and said quickly, "Nothing. Excuse me." 

  


He dashed into the bathroom, leaving a confused and kind of hurt Buffy behind. 

  


When Angel took a look at the mirror, he was startled to have nothing to stare back at him. He stumbled back into the bedroom and said to Buffy, panicked, "I'm invisible!" 

  


Buffy's eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head, "No you're not." 

  


After a beat, Angel said in a calmer tone, "Oh. Excuse me." 

  


He rushed back into the bathroom again and closed the door. Again, when he stared into the mirror, there was no reflection.

  


He shifted into his game face like he did before and felt his bumpy forehead and the pointy fangs. Returning back to his regular face, he started to alternately change from vamped out to regular, over and over, faster and faster. He made small grunting noises and breathed hard to try to calm himself. 

  


'Oh God, I'm the vampire demon. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.' Angel chanted in his head. 

  


There was a soft knock on the bathroom door, causing Angel to stop his mind-ramble. 

  


Buffy's voice was muffled through the door as she asked, "Liam? What's going on?" 

  


'Oh God Joan. Just when there was a strong attraction. Now she's gonna.' 

  


"Uh, I'm almost finished," he called back through the door, then he mumbled to himself, "I'm the vampire. They're gonna kill me."

*~*~ 


	8. Interrogations

  
  


Part 7 

LORNE AT NIGHTCLUB: "Well, those are some exciting products. Am I right?," Lorne took a puff of his cigarette and his audience clapped, then he continued, "Mmm. Let's all think about buying some of those. But if I can bring it down a moment," he took off his bright colored jacket, and the spotlight that was on him changed from blue to red, "Is there anything worse then feeling like you're alone? Like you're the only person in the world who thinks the way you do, and if anyone else found out, they'd drive a pointy wooden thing through your heart? And a for our fearless vampire killers…" 

*~*~ 

Angel took an unnecessary deep cleansing breath to calm himself before exiting the bathroom. He decided to act as calmly as possible before hauling ass out of there unnoticed so they won't kill him. 

He finally opened the bathroom door and came face to face with a concerned Buffy. 

  


"You okay?" she asked. 

  


He gave her a forced reassuring smile, "Yeah. Just… Cabin fever I guess." 

  


"Oh. Okay. You wanna head back out?" 

  


Angel inwardly gulped, "Yeah sure."

  


Buffy smiled and handed him his axe. After he reluctantly accepted it, Buffy offered her hand. He slipped his own hand into hers, and together they walked out of the room. 

  


*~*~ 

  


All of them were now gathered in the lobby, minus Buffy and Angel. While Wesley was studying the unconscious Lorne up close, the two finally walked down the stairs, their hands still entwined. 

  


Cordelia noticed their hands and then walked up to them with a flirtatious smile for Angel. When she reached the two, she seductively placed a hand on his arm, to which he just smiled politely at her and shrugged it off. He followed 'Joan' when she pulled him off further into the lobby. 

  


Cordelia remained where she was standing in shock, "Excuse me? Did I just get the brush off? There really is some sort of horrible spell."

  


Xander and Willow watched her from the couches and rolled their eyes. 

  


"Did anybody find anything?" Fred asked the group.

  


"Well let's see," Cordelia started off with a sarcastic tone, "Do you remember anything?" 

  


"Wouldn't the vampire be coming after us anyhow," Willow tried to intercept the argument she felt coming on, "Aren't we vittles?" 

  


Wesley nodded, putting his hands behind his back, "Five people, each unknown to each other, far from home, trapped at night," while Wesley spoke, Angel stared at Buffy's neck hungrily as she concentrated on Wes' speech, "I submit that the blood-sucking fiend may be closer than we dared suspect. That it may be…" he paused for dramatic effect and roams his eyes over the group individually, "that it may be one of us." 

  


Angel's head shot up and his eyes were wide with fear and shock. At the same time Buffy cocked an eyebrow at the Englishman, "Uh…you're kidding." 

  


"Wish that I were, Miss uh Joan, but the simple fact is… the fiend has been under our noses the entire time, waiting for the moment to…" at that moment, Wesley pulled out a cross from his breast pocket and shoved it in Gunn's face, emphasizing his last word of the sentence with the shove, "strike!" 

  


Gunn's immediate reaction was punching him across the face, making Wes fall to the ground. 

  


"See?" Angel snickered, the others trying to hide their own laughter, "This guy's whacked. Let's have a different theory." 

  


Wesley glared at 'Liam'; "I'm not quite finished. I think it's only fair that everybody have a turn. The cross obviously doesn't affect me or our friend," Wes pointed the cross in his hand at Gunn, "the pugilist." 

  


Gunn looked like he was going to pummel Wesley again with a more brutal hit, taking offense to the word Wes used to call him. But Gunn held back his violent urges and be fair since he didn't really know what the word meant. So he decided to go with the good old threat.

  


"Oh, your ass better pray I don't look that word up." Wesley just ignored Gunn. 

  


Cordelia strolled up to Wesley and yanked the cross out of his hand. She waved it in front of her, and when there was no reaction, she scoffed and tossed the cross to Fred. Fred then started to scan the cross over her body like one of those guards with a metal detector wand. When she was done with her detecting, she handed it off to Xander, who tossed it from one hand to another. He beamed happily when nothing happened.

  


"Aha! Not the hell spawn!," he excitedly said and then threw it at Willow. 

  


Willow caught it with ease and she examined the cross in her hand; her face wore an expression that was a mix of amusement and thoughtfulness. 

  


"Hey, no vamp in me," Willow stated, then she held it out to Buffy, "Joan?" 

  


Buffy crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her left foot. 

  


"Why do I have to do it? I'm the one that FIGHTS the baddies." 

  


"Joan, everyone has to do it. It's just a safety precaution," Wesley explained to Buffy.

  


"No," Cordelia calmly spoke up, "I don't think she needs to do it. It's obvious who the vamp is." She looked straight at Angel, and yet again, his eyes bulged out in fear and panic. 

  


"Le-Let's not jump to conclusions here. I-I mean… I-I can't be-" Angel's panic-filled stutter was cut off by Cordelia. 

  


"It's Joan."

  


Angel inconspicuously let out a breath of relief, but felt kind of guilty that this accusation where on Buffy when it was really him who was the vamp. 

  


"WHAT?!" Buffy screeched, "How can it be me?" 

  


"Well isn't it obvious? The way you know how to kill that… thing, you're way too strong to be human. Face it, we've found our perpetrator." 

  


Buffy threw her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes then returning her glare towards Cordelia, "This is ridiculous! I am NOT the vamp."

  


"Then prove it," the brunette challenged. She took the wooden cross from Willow and stepped in front of Buffy, "Show us Little Miss Hero." She tauntingly held the top of the cross with her forefinger and thumb, waving it in front of Buffy's angered and annoyed face. 

  


"Come on JOAN," Cordelia said. Buffy's supposed name in a mocking tone, "Everybody's waiting." 

  


Buffy just stared at the arrogant brunette coldly for a few moments before matching the cross from the girl's hand.

  


"See?" Buffy made a show that nothing was going to happen with the cross, "Nothing! I told you I wasn't it." 

  


Cordelia sneered at her and turned away, flipping her short hair as best as she could. 

  


Buffy's cold exterior melted when she turned to Angel and put on a sweet smile, holding out the cross for him, "Liam?" 

  


Angel hesitantly looked at it for a beat and then grabbed it. When it started to burn him and smoke was rising from where he held the cross, he quickly put it by his side where it was hard to see the reaction that would give away that he was the vampire. 

  


"See?" Angel said with a little wince, "No vampire here I'm just like the rest of you." 

  


Xander started sniffing the air, smelling something was burning. Little did he know that it was Angel who's hand was painfully scalding the impression of the cross in his hand. 

  


"Does anyone else here-" he started but was cut off by Angel. 

  


Angel spotted that Lorne was starting to come to and thanked the Lord that he found that distraction so he can get rid of the painfully offending object in his hand. 

  


"Look the thing's awake!" he exclaimed. 

  


When the attention was off of him and everyone went to look at Lorne, Angel tossed the cross over his shoulder. 

  


"Don't get to close," Wesley warned everyone.

  


"Ooh…Oh… Guys, hey, that was quite a whammy. A little trip through the transitive nightfall of diamonds, if you know what I mean. I certainly don't, but-"

  


"What the hell is he talking about?" Angel said. 

  


"Hey here's a funny sidebar," Lorne wriggled in the binds that were tightly wrapped around him, "I'm tied to a chair… again! What the hell's going on?" 

  


Wesley's answer was to look at him evilly and say, "We were hoping you would enlighten us, spawn of evil."

  


"Oh dear. I'm starting to suspect my surefire hit spell closed out of town," Lorne paused to whimper, "Did anything go right? Anything? Did Cordy at least get her memory back?" 

  


Wesley pointed at him, "Just tell us where the vampire is, fiend," Wes' demand made Angel tense up. 

  


Lorne stared at Wesley strangely, "What are you talking about? There aren't any vampires here," Angel relaxed, well until Lorne finished his sentence, "Well, I mean, except for our boy here," he nodded towards Angel. 

  


Everybody turned to Angel shocked. He hesitated and tried to save himself, "Uh… lying devil man." 

  


"Oh like my spell made you not a vampire anymore. My magic isn't that-" 

  


Lorne was cut off when Angel slammed his fist to Lorne's head hard and yelled, "Shut your mouth!" *~*~ 


	9. Betrayed

Part 8 

  


With the force from Angel's punch, Lorne was sent sliding across the floor on the chair he was still tied to. Gunn held up the battle-axe defensively, pushing Fred behind him. She moved over to where Wes, Cordy, Willow, and Xander stood. 

  


Buffy stood in a fighting stance, stake gripped in her right hand. The way she was looking at Angel made his unbeating heart break. 

  


The smoldering look didn't really mask the hurt in her eyes. She felt betrayed because she really liked him. 

  


"It's not… He just…" Angel began. 

  


"Well our mystery is solved," Wesley said bitterly. 

  


"Is this a convenient time to point out that I hit on a VAMPIRE? I mean, imagine, he could've bit me when we were making out or something!" 

  


Everybody did their best to ignore Cordy's pointless ranting. 

  


Angel was now surrounded by Buffy, Gunn, Wesley, and Xander, the girls watching from the outskirts.

  


"Please," Angel softly pleaded, "I don't wanna hurt anyone." 

  


He met the green-blue eyes of Buffy and he heard her mutter sadly, "You already did." 

  


Just then, a stake shot out from Wesley's forearm and hit Angel's side, he apologized, but quickly mended it with a "HA!" 

  


After vamping out, Angel defended himself when Gunn attacked. The souled vamp wrestled the axe away from Gunn and threw him across the room. He mumbled an apology when Xander came at him and then kicked him fiercely, making him land on the opposite side of the lobby with one blow to the stomach.

  


Cordelia found shelter behind Lorne, while Fred and Willow ducked behind the counter, all of them watching with frightened eyes. 

  


After Wesley activated his swords from his sleeves, he swung at Angel, but he avoided it by punching Wes' nose and sending him to the floor. 

  


With an instinctive growl, Angel whipped around to come face to face with Buffy. She had been still during the battle, waiting for the right time to fight him. 

  


For a few moments, they just stared at each other. Suddenly, Buffy lunged at Angel, and they were soon trading powerful blows. The fight was so intense it went from the lobby to the storage room of the hotel. 

  


Buffy flipped him into the cement floor and she quickly straddled him, pinning him down so he couldn't move in the process. She raised her stake, ready to strike and turn him to dust, aiming for the heart. 


	10. The sweet bondings of Father and son

  


Part 9 

  


Buffy raised her stake, but stopped in mid-swing when Angel whispered, "Please. I'm sorry. I don't wanna hurt anyone, please." 

  


Buffy dropped her arm that held the stake to her side, but kept it gripped in her fist. She sat up; still straddling his waist while Angel propped himself up on his elbows, his game face still in place. 

  


"You don't want to hurt anybody?" she asked incredulously, "What about the number you did to the guys out there?" then she added sadly, "the number you did to me?" He looked down disgracefully and she continued in her tougher tone, "You're a VAMPIRE. Check the lumpies. How could you not possibly want to hurt someone?"

  


"I-I don't know. I just know that I don't. M-maybe I'm a… I don't know, a vampire with a soul," Angel supplied hopefully. 

  


Buffy gave him an unbelieving look with an eyebrow raised, "A vampire with a soul?" she paused thinking it over for a moment, "Oh my God how lame is that?" 

  


She finally got off of him and they both stood up.

  


"It was just a thought. I mean, I have no desire to bite you," he paused and then added with a wince, "anymore." 

  


"Anymore?" Buffy questioned, shocked, "You were thinking of biting me?" 

  


Before he could answer, Connor barged in and hit his father. Angel crashed into the wall on the other side of the room. Wesley followed Connor, but he tripped on the stairs and fell on the floor. 

  


"Yes that one," he cried pitifully, not getting up, "Kill that one please!" 

  


Angel charged for Connor, but was then thrown out the boarded up window by his son, and landed below on the kitchen floor. 

  


"Liam!" Buffy yelled and went to attack Connor, but stopped in her tracks when the teenager whipped around and landed his blue eyes on her now hazel ones. 

  


They stared at each other in awed silence, both looking familiar to each other. 

  


The silence was broken when Buffy inquired, "Are-are we related? Because you look like relative material or something." 

  


The brown-haired teenager didn't answer, he just jumped out of the broken window, remembering his father was down there. 

  


Buffy jumped in after him to find Connor and Angel circling each other, ready to attack. Angel spotted Buffy and paused in his circling. Connor followed his line of vision. 

  


"You stay away from her," Connor growled at Angel. 

  


"Oh the girl's yours then?" Angel spat back out. 

  


Connor paused before answering, stealing a glance towards Buffy, "That's right," he told Angel, feeling the need to protect this woman. 

  


"She never mentioned you when we were alone togeth-" Angel was cut off when Connor threw a cast iron skillet at him and hit him square on the head. 

  


Before Angel could attack after he recovered, Buffy yelled and got in between the two. 

  


She opened her mouth to say something, but Willow popped her head through the window they jumped/fell through, ceasing Buffy from saying anything. 

  


"Hold it!" Willow yelled, "No one kill anybody," then she added sweetly, "Please?" 


	11. After effects suck

Part 10

  


One by one, Lorne dabbed the homemade potion that cleared the spell on their tounges.

  


When he got to Buffy, she closed her eyes tightly and made a face from the horrible taste, She slowly opened her eyes, all her memories coming back. She gasped as a particular group of memories came when she made eye contact with Angel.

  


She bit her lip when she noticed that everyone was staring at her. Her eyes started to water, and she focused on her feet.

  


"E-Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom." Angel gave her directions to his room and Buffy spun around and walked slowly up the stairs.

  


He looked after her, worried that something was wrong, but didn't run after her. He did run though when Cordelia was given the potion and then suddenly ran up the stairs toward her own room.

  


"Cordy," Angel called when he reached her in the hallway.

  


"I can't. Angel, I-I'm sorry."

  


"You remember," he stated.

  


"Yes. I remember...all of it. We were in love, but I have to be alone. Please? For awhile. It's too...I-" Cordelia cut herself off and walked away, shutting the door to her room behind her.

  


Angel sighed sadly and turned to go downstairs. He then looked up and say his former love standing a few yards away. He noticed the tears streaming down her face, her fists clenched at her side.

  


Buffy had exited the room a few doors down and heard the voices of Cordelia and Angel. Much to her dismay, she just entered to hear Cordelia say that she and Angel were in love. At that moment, her heart broke in two.

  


"Buffy..." he started and moved to her. She stopped him with a shaky hand.

  


"I-I think it's time that we left. We're not needed anymore," then she silently added,'Especially me,' she looked anywhere but into his brown orbs.

  


"Buffy-"

  


"No, it's okay. You deserve someone that you truly l-love," There was a pause of silence and then Buffy continued, "You should give her time; some space. She'll come back to you. Like you did for me at one time," she sniffled at the last part, holding back a sob, she had to be strong.

  


She finally looked into his eyes, and closed the distance between them with a hug. Angel slowly responded by placing one of his hands gently on her back.

  


"I remember what I forgot. I'm sorry that I did. I'll never forget," she whispered in his ear. Angel's mouth opened in shock when he caught onto what she was saying. She slowly pulled back and brushed her lips against his cheek. 

  


She made eye contact with him again, his eyes were now brimmed with tears. She gave him a little nod and pursed her trembling lips. She pushed away from him, walking as swiftly as she can downstairs when she felt like she was going to collapse, but she refused to give in to the sadness yet. 

  


Buffy ran into the lobby and everybody faced her.

  


"It was nice meeting all of you, but Xand, Will, we have to go."

  


They both nodded, noticing the remorse on her face.

  


Saying bye with smiles and waves, the three from Sunnydale headed towards the door.

  


They were almost out the door when they heard Angel yell Buffy's name and run down the stairs. The people in the lobby watched the brown-haired vamp race down the steps.

  


Buffy paused in her pursuit to exit the building to look at Angel.

  


"Bye Angel," she whispered, then continued out the door. Willow and Xander stealing a glance toward the frantic Angel running down the steps, and then followed their best friend out the door.

  


"Buffy!," Angel yelled. His legs weren't working fast enough for him, his vamp speed seem to be not working. As soon as he reached the door, he stopped there. The sun had already risen, preventing him from getting to Buffy.

  


He watched helplessly as Xander sped off into the distance with Buffy and Willow.

  


Angel stood there in the shadows of the doorway for a few minutes, his head hanging low. He slowly turned around and met the eyes of his LA crew and his son. Wesley, Fred, Lorne, and even Gunn stared back at him with eyes that told him that they were sorry and they would be there for him. On the other hand, Connor gave him a smoldering look, his arms crossed. 

  


Connor shook his head and scoffed, "Way to go Dad," he said bitterly, "I'm leaving."

  


With that, Connor left the Hyperion Hotel to go to his attic apartment that he was stowing away in above the museum. 

  


Meanwhile, in Xander's car, when they were off Angel's property, Buffy finally broke down into Willow's lap in the backseat.

  


"Oh Buffy," Willow comforted. Xander gripped his steering wheel and breathed in deeply to keep from letting out his anger towards Angel. 

  


Willow suddenly felt deja vu. It was just like prom, but even though she didn't know what happened between the two this time, it seemed to have stung more.

  


*~*~

LORNE AT THE NIGHTCLUB: "And that's it folks. That's the way love goes. All's well that ends well right? Well it's been a long night. For everyone. I hope you liked my tale, but I've got no more to tell. Applause, applause," he put on his jacket, "So you kids be good and go home. Hug your families while you can," he swiftly added, "And stay away from magic. Trust me." He stepped off the stage into an empty audience, going off into the night.

*~*~


	12. Guides

Part 11

  


Angel sat in his darkened room, sitting in his chair; pretty much brooding his ass off.

  


As soon as Connor left, he wordlessly traveled up to his room and locked the door behind him. The first thing he did to try to get his mind off the blonde was to go to the bookshelf and find himself a novel to read.

  


He randomly picked on and out of habit, he leafed through the pages.

  


Something slipped from the book and fell to his feet. He bent over and retrieved what looked like the back of a Polaroid. Angel flipped it over and that's where it lead him to be in the position he was in now.

  


The picture was of him and Buffy back in the day when they were care free about their romantic relationship. Before they knew about the curse, before their relationship started to hit rock bottom.

  


On the bottom of the instant photo was the date it was taken. It was during the time when Buffy was grounded by her mother, so he had to sneak up to have one of their numerous one-on-one sessions.

  


Somehow, Buffy had managed to reach behind the wicker chair they, or rather Angel was sitting on, and gotten the camera.

  


The flash and the whirring noise surprised Angel and caused him to break the kiss and look around them frantically. The look on his face made Buffy laugh hysterically.

  


He was so engrossed in the memories the picture brought, he jumped in surprise when a girl's voice broke the silence of the gloomy room.

  


"Man, you are the life of the party! No wonder you're so popular."

  


A teenaged girl sat on his couch across from him. She looked Asian with black hair that was parted into braided pigtails and some strands framed her face. Her eyes were dark brown and her skin was a dark tan. She wore a white sleeveless zip-up hoodie underneath a pair of baggy overalls. White K-Swiss sneakers were on her feet, a leather cuff on her right wrist.

  


In a flash, Angel instinctively lunged for the girl that intruded into his apartment. When he was about to snatch her neck into a choke hold, the girl held out her two hand defensively and said, "Whoa Buddy. Hold up."

  


Without thinking, Angel dropped his hand and backed off a bit. She pointed to the spot next to her on the couch and commanded him like he was a dog to sit. He obeyed unhappily, under her control.

  


"Who are you?," he growled.

  


The girl snapped her fingers and shook her head, "Darn, during all that hoopla I forgot to mention my name. My bad," she stuck out a small hand to shake, grinning all the while, "Hi. I'm Lynn."

  


Angel narrowed his eyes at her, staring at her fiercely. She rolled her eyes when he didn't shake her hand, her grin was still intact, and she let her hand fall.

  


"That's all right. That's okay. I understand, but I swear, I'm not evil."

  


"How do I know you're not lying?"

  


"Because Angel, as cliche as this sounds, I would've tried to kill you already."

  


Angel dropped his glare and replaced it with a questioning look, inquiring her, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

  


Lynn's smile got wider, "I was sent here to tell you that the decisions you've been making lately are kinda..." she trailed off as she tried to think of a good word to describe them, "disappointing," she finally came up with, with a mock whisper and a nod of her head.

  


"Sent? What, you work for the Powers?"

  


She clapped her hands excitedly in a very Drusilla-like manner, "Wow! You're GOOD!," she jumped up to her feet and stood in front of him, "You're looking at your own personal guide."

  


"My guide?" she nodded happily. He chuckled in amusement, "No offense, but you look kinda small and young to be my guide," the vampire waved his hand to point out her height of five feet and her teenaged looks.

  


Lynn's smile turned into a frown, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  


"That's besides the point. And I seem to remember you taking advice from a little girl that looked younger than me and was not to mention EVIL."

  


"That was different, it concerned my son!"

  


"Well this does to, bu the comes later," she sat back down next to the vamp-detective, "Buffy right now, we're focusing on you... and Buffy."

  


The frown that Angel wore deepened.

  


"Buffy? What does she-"

  


"EVERYTHING Angel," Lynn cut him off, "You two are the destined warriors. The bad decisions you're both making now, are effecting you two's future."

  


"Buffy's making bad decisions?" The girl pursed her lips and squinted her eyes, holding up her hand with her thumb and forefinger an inch apart, "Then who's going to help her?"

  


"Oh that would be my friend and partner. I believe you'll like him," Lynn looked up to the ceiling, making Angel flinch when she screamed, "EY! YOU CAN COME DOWN NOW!" She looked back at Angel and waggled her eyebrows, a knowing smile on her face.

  


"No need to shout Darlin'," came a male Irish voice from behind Angel.

  


Angel gasped and quickly turned around.

  


"Doyle," Angel breathed out.

  


"Hey Angel Buddy. Miss me?" The short man said.

  


"You-You're Buffy's guide?"

  


"Well, Lynn and I, we're both you and Buffy's guides. We just flipped a coin." Doyle stuck his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants and winked at Lynn.

  


Angel just stood there, his mouth was open, but no words came out.

  


"I gotta tell ya," Doyle shook his head with a smirk, "The thing ya have going for 'Delia... It's not right man," Angel was about to say something, but Doyle continued, "S'alright Angel, I'm a spirit, what good am I gonna do her? Plus, I don't like the 'Yay-I'm-A-Saint-Warrior' attitude she's got going on. Lost her unique fire ya know?"

  


"Doyle, if you would've let me-" Angel started to apologize for his death.

  


"Ey, it's ok. It was my fate, man. There was nothing you could've done about it. Speaking of fate," he brought his left wrist up so he can see the time on his silver watch, "Gotta go see your girl." He took Angel's hand in both of his and shook it, "Was great seeing you again Buddy. I'll keep in touch," he still gripped Angel's hand in one of his and pointed to Lynn with the other, "You're in great hands. She's good."

  


With a pat on Angel's back, Doyle backed up a few inches and faded away with is hands in his pockets and a grin on his face.

  


"Man, I love Doyle. He's the coolest," Lynn commented to Angel. Without a response, angel plopped back down in his previous spot on the couch. "Well let's get down to business shall we?" 


	13. Everybody makes mistakes

Part 12

Buffy sat on the kitchen stool, leaning on the breakfast bar, She gripped a coffee mug in her hands staring blankly into the dark liquid.

  


"Wow, you and Angel really are meant for each other," an Irish voice projected from in front of her, she looked up, startled, "All broody and what not. It's touching actually."

  


Buffy was about to attack until she saw the man's face.

  


"You're... You're Doyle, right?"

  


The short, handsome man grinned, "It's good to know you remember me."

  


"How did you get-," her confusion got worse with a kick of shock, "Wait. Aren't you dead?!"

  


"Technically," Buffy raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay. I am. But I'm not... undead of that's what you're thinking," he shifted into a spot of sunlight to prove his point, "See? I'm just a spirit working for the Powers."

  


"The Powers," Doyle nodded. Buffy frowned and tensed, "Is there another apocalypse?"

  


Doyle chuckled and shook his head, "No, not yet, "Buffy relaxed, satisfied with the answer.

  


"I'm here to help ya with your destiny, lass." Doyle went around the breakfast bar to take a seat on the stool next to the slayer.

  


"My destiny? What's my destiny?"

  


"Easy. To be with Angel."

*~*~

"Let's see, where should we start," Lynn feigned hard thinking, "Oh yeah! Let's begin with this weird little obsession you've got going with a certain wannabe saint, Cordelia."

  


"Cordelia is not my obsession," Angel said offended.

  


"Okay, then what is she? Your love?" Angel didn't answer, "Yeah. That's what I thought."

  


As I was saying," Lynn continued, "This thing where you think you're in love with Cordelia... makes ya kind of a hypocrite, Buddy."

  


"A hypocrite? How does that make me a hypocrite?"

  


"Oh I just hope you remember this," Lynn magically morphed into Angel, with his black silk shirt on and anger was written on his face. Lynn's voice was also changed to sound like his, "That's great. That's nice. You've moved on. I can't. You've found someone new. I'm not allowed to. Remember?" 

  


Angel frowned at the eerie reminder of the night Buffy came to LA and told him about her new love, Riley, to hurt him. 

  


She quickly changed back to her normal form and smiled, "That was cool, wasn't it?" At Angel's unemotional stare she cleared her throat. "Anyways, you said you couldn't move on, but suddenly la-de-da, you can..." she paused and then stated in a singsong voice, "Hypocrite!"

*~*~

"You're kidding me?" Buffy responded to Doyle's last statement.

  


"Nope. You're destined to fight side by side with him at the End of Days and if all ends well, you'll have a bundle of wee ones and grow old and grey together."

  


Instead of jumping up and down with excitement, Buffy let out a burst of laughter.

  


"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you."

  


"You don't?" Doyle raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.

  


"No. Look, I just think that whole," she air-quoted the next word, "'prophecy' about me and Angel is just a big ass mistake."

  


"How's that?"

  


"You guys have been screwing us over for the longest time," she started using her fingers to help her list the facts, "Angel losing his, me sending him to hell WITH his soul, him leaving, you guys taking away the most happiest day of our lives. Not to mention the fact that he's now in love with Cordelia. I mean what the hell is that?!"

  


"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Doyle interrupted stopped the beginnings of her venting, "Those things are called obstacles, Darlin'. No relationship is perfect. You guys didn't have the normal problems that couples have because both of you aren't... normal. The only thing that's not supposed to happen is Cordelia replacing you in those prophecies."

  


Buffy was about to comment but Doyle interrupted again, "And while we're on the subjects of mistakes, I was sent here for that. My partner, who's with your boy at the moment by the way, and I were assigned to be your guides so you two won't mess up again and put the world in peril."

  


"And, if I may ask, what was my mistake?"

  


Doyle paused for dramatic effect and answered simply, "Spike."

*~*~

  


"Well things change, so it doesn't make me a hypocrite."

  


"Yeah. Sure," Lynn laughed sarcastically. At Angel's frustrated look, she rolled her eyes. She turned to face him, sitting Indian-style on the couch.

  


"Okay Angel, God's honest truth, before Lorne and Fred were telling you about 'kyerumption' and Cordelia was getting poser-like, were you in love with her?," she tried to get him to admit. Hey, it was therapeutic, "Look me in my eyes and tell me you do and I'll go away, just like that," she snapped her fingers to emphasize her point.

  


Angel looked Lynn dead in the eyes, as soon as he opened his mouth to answer, he closed it back up, averting his gaze.

  


"It's not that simple, Lynn," Angel replied, looking at the carpet flooring.

  


She sighed and groaned in frustration, "Ay yai yai Angel. Fine. Did you know that you loved Buffy right away?"

  


Angel glanced back in her brown eyes, but again didn't say anything. Lynn didn't need him to, the answer she needed was all there.

  


"Mmhmm. See? I knew it." She smiled.

  


"I see what you're doing. It's not working."

  


"Yeah it is. So, do you love Cordelia? I mean actually IN love with her. Do you love her as powerfully as you loved Buffy... possibly more."

  


"No," he answered honestly, finally, this time, "I'll never love her as much as I love Buffy."

  


Lynn's smile got wider when she felt they were finally getting on track.

  


"So, why after Cordelia?"

  


*~*~

  


"Spike?! How is he MY mistake?!"

  


"Buffy, I'm here to help, but if you don't know what you did with the guy, then..." he trailed off and then finished with, "Well, then your smarts finally match your hair color."

  


Buffy glared at Doyle, to which he just held up his hands defensively.

  


"I was just saying Darlin'..." Buffy rolled her eyes, then turned her vision straight ahead, crossing her arms.

  


"You and vampires Buffy. Is it a rebellious slayer thing?" Doyle chuckled at his joke. Buffy looked back at him, unamused.

  


"It was a joke, Buffy."

  


"Funny," she sarcastically replied.

  


"Ya know where making out eventually leads to?" Doyle changed the subject.

  


Buffy raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you kidding me Doyle? I'm 21, I don't need the sex talk."

  


"I'm serious Buffy. If this thing with Spike continues, you can say 'bye-bye' to any chances you'll have with Angel."

  


"I think we said 'bye-bye' to our chances when he fell in love with Cordelia Chase," she retorted bitterly.

*~*~

  


Angel stayed in quiet stubbornness, not looking at the girl next to him.

  


"Angel?" Lynn called out to him, "C'mon Angel. Answer me," she whined. She was starting to sound like a little sister annoying her older brother for attention. Angel was more convinced by this idea when he had to keep swatting her hand away when she poked his arm.

  


"Aaangel! C'mon. You can tell me. Please?," she kept on poking him and he kept returning the gesture by swatting her hand away, sucking his teeth frustratingly and mutter "Stop it," every once in awhile.

  


She just giggled when he snatched her hand, snarling at her, and raising his voice, "Okay! Geez! I'll tell you!"

  


Lynn smiled in satisfaction, "Man, I love my methods," she boasted proudly, "So you were saying," she prodded.

  


Angel sighed and mumbled, "I guess I was lonely."

  


"What? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

  


"I said I was lonely," he said louder. When Lynn didn't say anything, he continued in a softer tone, "When people tell you that you're meant for someone, and you just need to feel something you haven't felt in a while... You start to believe it."

  


"Enter Cordelia," Lynn said.

  


"Um... Yeah. She-she wasn't acting like... like the Cordelia that I had sister feelings for. She was acting more like..."

  


"Buffy?" she finished off for him. Once again, he moved his brown eyes to the dark carpet, leaving the question unanswered.

  


"Mmhmm. So you put all that pent up Buffy love and aimed it towards Cordelia," his guide theorized. She pretty much had it all covered. 

  


She then asked, "Okay, so why not go to the original Buffy?"

  


"Like I said Lynn, it's not that simple. We've both changed."

  


"For the better"

  


"We're not in each other's worlds anymore."

  


"So what?! Angel, it's nothing a little talking wouldn't be able to fix," she waited for an agreement or something, and when nothing came she continued, "Look, you still love her right?"

  


There was a dramatic pause before Angel answered truthfully, "Always."

  


"Then I think I deserve an agreement about the talking bit," Lynn insisted, "So, go. Talk. I guarantee that with the love that you two share, you'll be back into each other's worlds in no time. New personalities and all."

  


Angel sighed, "Even so, the reasons why I left her still stand."

  


"Look at you. All with the doubt. Well Mr. Excuses-Excuses, I have the BEST surprises for you!" she informed him with excitement.

  


Angel was almost afraid to ask. He couldn't tell if Lynn was being sarcastic or not.

  


He gulped, "What?"

  


She grinned and told him in a calm tone, "Your soul is permanent, Buddy. It's one step towards your Shanshu."

  


"My-My... is... How?"

  


"Yeah, see, it's like steps. The first step is the permanent soul. Each step gets you closer to your humanity you get AFTER the End of Days. Little by little, you'll be able to do stuff that your kind can't do. Crosses and holy water won't burn you. Sunlight won't be a problem," she laughed at her next statement, "You can frolic around naked in the daytime if you wanted to... Of course you could get arrested for that," Angel gave her a weird look, "But anyways, moving on, you'll be able to eat ACTUAL food. No more blood treats for you, yay! And then, if you survive the fight of all fights, you'll get your beating heart and the normal human life span."

  


Angel gaped at the young girl, "Are you serious?"

  


Lynn nodded her head vigorously.

  


"Oh God. That's-"

  


"Oh wait, don't be in shock just yet. That's nothing. Wait 'til I tell you what's next."


	14. Shocked

Part 13

  


"You think they're okay?" Fred was looking up at the stairs as she helped Lorne clean up the mess they left, worried about her two friends who were both locked up in their rooms, "Maybe we should check up on them."

  


"I'm sure they're fine Sweetums," Lorne assured the girl, "Right now, they need to be with themselves. When they need us, they'll come down."

  


Fred, Lorne, Gunn, and even Wesley were sitting around the Angel Investigations lobby, taking in the after effects of the events that happened just hours before.

  


"I can't imagine what they went through," Wesley commented.

  


"Must've been something," Gunn stated, "Did you see how scared Cordy looked, and Buffy... That was like some weird soap opera shit the way Angel ran after her."

  


"I wonder what happened," Fred said, "She looked so sad."

  


"That was a great spell Lorne," Gunn sarcastically said to the green demon, "No side effects my ass."

  


"Hey, it got Cordelia's memory back didn't it? I just hope she shares what scared her so much."

  


"Angelus," Cordelia's voice rang from the bottom of the stairs. They all looked at her surprised, because they didn't notice her enter.

  


"Cordelia, how are-" Fred began, but was cut off.

  


"I saw everything Angelus has ever done. All the pain, the torture... the death he inflicted on people... It's horrible," she paused for a moment and then continued, "I'm just... I need to go for a drive; get some air. I hope you don't mind."

  


"Not at all," Wesley smiled softly, "Take your time."

  


Cordelia shot them a sad smile and went to turn to walk out when Fred's small voice stopped her.

  


"Wh- when will you be back?"

  


Just looking over her shoulder, she answered after a moment.

  


"Don't wait up," she replied and exited the hotel.

  


*~*~

  


"Look Buffy," Doyle turned around to face the upset blonde who got up out of her seat and moved to put her mug the sink, "I'm not the one to discuss the Cordelia/Angel thing with you, I think it's better if you talk to Angel about that," he leaned back on the counter, "I'm talking about Spike."

  


She wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned against the sink. She brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She exhaled loudly and shook her head, dropping her hand to her side.

  


"Besides that singing spell, I only kissed the guy once. Doesn't mean I'm gonna have sex with... Spike," she grimaced when she said his name. One side thought about the grossness of the idea, but the other half was intrigued.

  


If she continued her affair with Spike, she would at least be able to feel something other than misery and the bad kind of numbness. When she kissed Spike, she felt the lust wash over her and made her forget the hell she was dragged back into.

  


"Well, if you choose this path you will," Doyle informed her, "Which means doom and gloom, Princess."

  


"And how's that?"

  


"It's like this... You and Angel are the destined warriors. You two are the best fighters we had so far. But do you remember 'Together you're strong, alone you're dead?'" Buffy just answered with a look of her sad eyes and a little nod, "Well because of these turn of events, you two are slowly dying in the inside. And if you keep going down this road then you'll both be more messed up then you already are and so will the prophecies," Doyle tried to lighten up the mood with a little joke, "Do ya know how much paper work I would have to do if that happens?"

  


When he didn't even get a hint of a smile from the blonde he sighed and walked over to where she stood, leaning one hand on the kitchen island.

  


"Buffy, would you rather live a life of misery and lust, or have happiness, unconditional love and bliss?" he gently reasoned with her.

  


"I'd love to have the bliss, but we both know Angel and I can't have that. Unfortunately the lovely happiness clause stands in the way."

  


Doyle smiled and gave a chuckle. "That's where you would be wrong, Lass."

  


Buffy looked at the man in confusion, "What?"

  


Doyle then began to tell Buffy the Shanshu process like Lynn did with Angel.

  


"You mean... Human? For more than a day?" Doyle nodded, "Oh... wow," Buffy supported all her weight against the counter behind her so she wouldn't collapse.

  


After a few beats of silence, Doyle suddenly had an uncomfortable look on his face.

  


"Umm... Buffy... I'm not sure how you're gonna react to this, so just... ya know... brace yourself for the news I'm gonna give ya next."

  


*~*~

  


After a long drive, Cordelia finally stopped in front of a building. She sat in her jeep for a while before walking to the doors and entered.

  


She slowly stepped up the stairs, and was met in the middle with the person she came to see.

  


"Um... hi," she greeted meekly.

  


"Hi," the young man greeted back, "What are you doing here?"

  


"You're-you're the only person I feel like I need right now," Cordy looked into his eyes, tears beginning to pool in hers, "Please?"

  


During all the time he had known this woman, the brunette male had never seen Cordelia Chase be so weak and scared. Xander quickly pushed aside his plans, and led Cordelia back to his home, gently taking her hand.

  


*~*~

  


Angel wildly paced about his living room area after what Lynn just sprung on him.

  


His young guide just watched him go back and forth, leaning against the kitchen entry-way casually, her hands buried in her overall pockets.

  


"This can't be... How could it? Lynn, it's impossible."

  


Lynn giggled and shook her head, "Buddy, in your line of profession... you should've learned that NOTHING's impossible."

  


Angel stopped his pacing and faced Lynn, "But, but..." he stuttered.

  


"But, but nothing Angel. I explained the whole thing to you... THOROUGHLY. Did you actually think that Darla was capable of going through the cycle? Please, she's dead and had no soul. So stop denying it and accept that Connor, is yours and Buffy's son.

  


*~*~

  


"My what?!" Buffy exclaimed.

  


"Your son. That boy that attacked Angel in the kitchen, he's you and Angel's son."

  


Buffy moved back to the stool and sunk into sitting position.

  


"Oh my God... So, this is what an aneurysm feels like," she muttered, then said to Doyle, "Explain how this is possible."

  


"Well, we... After you..." Doyle rubbed he neck in embarrassment, stumbling on his words, "After you had your... your um... monthly visitor, the Powers took your egg after you um ovulated, and put it into Darla. And with Angel, well, we did some magic and made his little soldiers able to... march?"

  


Buffy remembered when Angel told her about the whole Darla incident when they met in the middle of L.A. and Sunnydale. She heard about the whole Connor saga from Willow. She surprisingly kept in touch with Wesley, who had failed to mention that he got his throat slit or the whole Cordelia ordeal.

  


Buffy was sad to hear that Angel had a child that wasn't hers. It was actually the first real emotion she felt ever since she was brought back.

  


But now to find out that Connor was actually her's and Angel's, she didn't know what to feel.

  


Happy that her dream came true, mad that she wasn't the one to give birth to Connor, or sad that she couldn't be there for her son when he needed her the most. It was all too much.

  


"Just talk to him, Buff," Doyle requested, "You both need to sort things out."

  


Buffy just stared ahead.

  


"Well, I gotta get going," he stood in front of Buffy and put his hand on her slumped shoulder, lining his eyes up with hers, "Remember, it's your choice to do whatever you want. But which do you think is better... Pain and misery or everything you ever wanted?"

  


He smiled at her and slowly backed away.

  


"It was nice talking to ya Buff. If you need anything, I'm just a holler away." With a grin on his face and his arms crossed over his chest, Doyle gave one last wink at Buffy before fazing out and disappearing.

  


*~*~

  


"A child with Buffy and perfect happiness, I don't get why I'm receiving all of this." Angel slumped into a chair, placing his hands over his face.

  


"Angel," Lynn sat on the arm of the chair the brooding vampire occupied, "I'm just one of the many beings that strongly believe that you deserve this more than anything, but if you keep this thing up with Cordy and Buffy with Spike, you wouldn't be so perfectly happy, and you know this."

  


Angel's head shot up with shock, looking at the girl with wide eyes.

  


"Buffy's what with Spike?!" He ignored the rest of Lynn's speech when she mentioned Buffy with Spike.

  


The guide winced and sucked in a breath as if she just got stung, realizing her slip, "Oops... I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

  


"What's Buffy doing with Spike?" Jealousy and fury was tied into his deep voice.

  


"Umm... Can't tell you," she said in a small voice.

  


"Why not?!"

  


"'Cause that's something BUFFY has to tell you, not me."

  


Angel clenched his jaw and leaned back into the chair angrily.

  


"Whoa," Doyle appeared into the room, noticing the distressed Angel, and said to Lynn, "Shouldn't he be happy that he can be... happy now?"

  


Lynn stood up and walked over to her partner, "Oh don't worry, he was happy. I just ACCIDENTLY let the thing about Buffy and Spike slip."

  


"Aw Lynn. You know you were s'posed to let Buffy tell him."

  


"It SLIPPED!," Lynn defended herself, "And I didn't tell him everything. I only told him that Buffy and Spike had a thing."

  


She walked back to the frustrated Angel, relaxing him with just eye contact.

  


"I'm telling you Angel, whatever path you choose to take... that's your decision... Ya know... whatever floats your boat. We're just here to tell you which one's better." Lynn patted him on his broad back and said, "I just think talking to each other would do both of you good. I hope you do whatever feels right for you."

  


Lynn smiled at him for the millionth time and walked back to Doyle, "We'll be there when you need us, Angel. I'll see ya when I see ya."

  


"Wait," Angel spoke up, "Where're you going?"

  


"To talk to that good lookin' son of yours," she responded, "He may be cute but Boy's got some issues."

  


"See ya Angel," Doyle said. Both of them waved and did their little disappearing trick, leaving Angel alone in his dimly lit room. 

  


Moments after they left, Angel finally came to a decision. Now all he had to do was wait for the sun to set and he can make a little trip to Sunnydale.

  


TBC....


End file.
